MasterThief:Seems like the left got the result they wanted (law and mandate upheld), while the right got the reasoning they wanted (Congress doesn't get a blank check to pass laws under the commerce/necessary and proper clauses, and can't force states to comply with a federal regulation by threatening existing federal funding.)

I'm not happy that Roberts fell for a bait-and-switch on the tax argument, but aside from that, not much to criticize. And just because a law is Constitutional doesn't mean it's a good idea.

3) Insurance companies are run like non-profits so that admin/exec/ marketing expenditures are

4) They broaden their risk pool by enrolling tens of thousands of more clients. The more people in a given pool, generally, the better the margin calculation for risk management and therefore smaller premiums for everyone across the board.

MurphyMurphy:Here's a clue: health insurance is not health care. All "universal" or "single-payer" systems work by rationing care. You want treatment for your rare cancer? Some government bureaucrat will determine that the treatment isn't cost effective, and you will either die waiting for it, or you'll never be given the chance.

FlashHarry:i love how weak the "it's a tax! obama said no taxes!" talking point is. obama can still say that he disagrees with the wording of the decision - that, like four of the justices, he believes that the mandate is constitutional under the commerce clause. but it's all moot. obamacare stands. this is a HUGE victory for the president.

FlashHarry:i love how weak the "it's a tax! obama said no taxes!" talking point is. obama can still say that he disagrees with the wording of the decision - that, like four of the justices, he believes that the mandate is constitutional under the commerce clause. but it's all moot. obamacare stands. this is a HUGE victory for the president.

...that's why I think the GOP is gonna go apeshiat for the rest of today. Limbaugh launches in about 20-ish minutes or so, and I'm pretty much mandated to catch his opening rant. that'll give me a preview of what the GOP shills will be vomiting up all over the politics tab later this evening (and all of tomorrow too for that matter). I think the Republicans are still trying to come up with a talking point for this decision so it's gonna be a biatchaotic until the GOP groupmind comes to a consensus on the approved lies/propaganda on Obamacare.

bhcompy:InmanRoshi: And as a mortal human being you are eventually going to get sick and die, and if you were uninsured those costs would have been covered by the insured.

You were simply gambling (with other people's money) that was going to happen later rather than sooner. I shed no tears for you, and you get no sympathy from me.

Yes, because no one takes responsibility for their own actions. I forget, this is America.

/I'm a healthy male in my 20s and get routine checkups, there is no reason for me to spend the outrageous amounts on health care that this law requires. Bye bye no coverage option, bye bye high deductible HSA.

Because no one in their 20s ever gets cancer or some other horrible disease or has an accident that requires hundreds of thousands of dollars in hospital care or gets married and has children.

/nothing like not updating the headline on their front page for at least half an hour after the decision has been made

As opposed to CNN who updated with the wrong verdict?

No one was prepared for this ruling because it is blatantly obvious that the law was unConstitutional.

Which is why the vast majority of people who actually study the Constitution said it was Constitutional, right? But I'm sure some anonymous farknugget on the internet knows better than the majority of all those elitist scholars.

bulldg4life:Bachmann has already declared that America as we know it has been destroyed. Jobs will be lost. People will cancel their health care plans. Cats and dogs living together.

The really hilarious thing is that she tweeted earlier in the day gloating that she had a ticket to the SCOTUS and was going to be there in person to see Obamacare fall. MAN I wish I could have seen her face.

The Federal government has to offer the existing program, without changes, in perpetuity? Because states' rights? Congress doesn't have the right to change Federal programs? Will have to read the decision.

They didn't nix the expansion; they nixed the ability of the feds to pull all Medicaid funds if a state opted out of the expansion. Instead, the feds can only pull the expansion funds.

nickerj1:Ginsburg, writing separately for the four liberals, said they would have upheld the mandate under the commerce clause too. "Unlike the market for almost any other product or service, the market for medical care is one in which all individuals inevitably participate," she wrote. "Virtually every person residing in the United States, sooner or later, will visit a doctor or other health care professional."

This is why some of these Justices need to be dismissed from the bench. Your logic is false, woman. You admit it in the second statement when you use the word "virtually". Not every individual is an actor in the medical care market because: I can go to another country and get health care; I can render my own health care; I can never use health care. And before you invoke Wickard v Filburn and argue all three of those options "affect" the medical care market, we both Wickard was the wrong decision. Robert's opinion is correct, in that it is not valid under the Commerce clause.

If you are born, live, and die in the US, you will use healthcare. It may just be signing off your corpse, but you will.

The amount of people that entirely avoid healthcare of any sort could fit in phonebox.

chiett:Tyrone Slothrop: They already use my taxes to fight wars I don't agree with, and to give bailouts to failing companies. How about taxes actually being used for something useful once?

How about just giving me back my money, and I'll decide what to do with it ?

I would be all for that, but unfortunately, Republicans (and admittedly many Democrats) want your money to fight pointless military incursions for the sole purpose of justifying a grossly bloated military. Which, oh by the way, props up the bottom line of defense contractors that plow campaign contributions to them.

Until that changes, a fight to ensure that tax money goes to meaningful things, that you know, help people, needs to be fought.

Additionally, as you have already established yourself to be a "birther" -- and thus prone to dishonesty and to irrationality -- for what reason should any claim issued b you be considered to be credible?

FlashHarry:i love how weak the "it's a tax! obama said no taxes!" talking point is. obama can still say that he disagrees with the wording of the decision - that, like four of the justices, he believes that the mandate is constitutional under the commerce clause. but it's all moot. obamacare stands. this is a HUGE victory for the president.

Good point.

1) the mandate is Constitutional2) Why is it Constitutional? Quick poll of Justices upholding it. Commerce Clause (4 out of 5).

/of course if they are as incompetent in life as they are as trolls we are likely to be paying for their healthcare. But of only 1 succeeds, it may wipe out 3 or 4 troll accounts and would be worth it.

Headso:based on the comments in this thread it looks like "tax increase" is the talkingpoint people are being told to parrot.

Which is fine... the whole act was worded in a way to get around using the word "tax" because people get so emotional about it. The whole argument for single payer, public option solutions derailed over it. Most reasonable people... when asked if they would rather have a $12000 p/y private health insurance policy, or a $7k p/y public option, SHOULD want the relief of a cheaper solution. But it gets framed as a $7k tax hike on working families, and the whole thing goes to pot.